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- Written by Patrick R. McElhiney
- Category: Articles
Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is now accepting applications from child care providers seeking designation as emergency child care programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In partnership with the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation (NHCF) and child care stakeholders, DHHS has committed $4 million in federal funding to establish the Emergency Child Care Collaborative, a public-private partnership that will ensure a robust and effective system of emergency child care for New Hampshire parents providing essential services during COVID-19.
Child care programs will be eligible to apply for incentive payments, including funding to support pay differentials for staff, child care costs for child care professionals, and other operating costs to support an emergency child care system. The Emergency Child Care Collaborative will hold a webinar for providers on Tuesday, March 31, 2020, from 6 – 7 p.m. to answer provider questions.
“We recognize that child care for essential workers is a vital part of the State’s response to COVID-19, and we are committed to supporting New Hampshire families during this public health crisis,” said DHHS Associate Commissioner Christine Tappan. “This additional funding from the federal Child Care Development Fund will put resources directly into the hands of our child care programs to support operations, staff, and parents.”
“New Hampshire Charitable Foundation looks forward to partnering with DHHS, DOE and early childhood stakeholders to support the state’s emergency child care system for essential workers,” said Christina Lachance, Director of Early Childhood and Family Initiatives for NHCF. “We know child care is critical to New Hampshire’s COVID 19 response efforts and we are grateful to child care professionals who are committed to serving children and families during this uncertain time.”
On March 26, Governor Chris Sununu issued Emergency Order #17, which mandated the closure of all non-essential businesses and required Granite Staters to stay at home until May 4, 2020. The order included a list of designated business sectors that provide essential services and support to COVID-19 and the core missions of the State.
To access the webinar or to submit an application, please visit Child Care Aware of NH. For questions about the program, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For more information on COVID-19, please visit www.nh.gov/covid19.
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- Written by Patrick R. McElhiney
- Category: Articles
Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has issued the following update for March 29, 2020, on the new coronavirus, COVID-19.
On Sunday, March 29, 2020, DHHS announced 44 new positive test results for COVID-19. There have now been 258 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in New Hampshire.
The new cases are 25 adult females and 19 adult males. The new cases reside in Rockingham (14), Strafford (5), Merrimack (4), Carroll (2), Grafton (2), Hillsborough other than Manchester and Nashua (1), Cheshire (1), and Sullivan (1) counties, and the cities of Nashua (7) and Manchester (7). Twenty-one of the new cases have no identified risk factors. Community-based transmission continues to increase in the State and has been identified in all of counties with cases. Most of the remaining cases have either had travel to domestic or international locations or have had close contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis. Five of the new cases were hospitalized for their illness; thus far, 39 patients of the 258 positive cases (15%) have been hospitalized.
DHHS has also announced the third death related to COVID-19. The deceased was a female resident of Rockingham County who was over 60 years old with underlying health issues. We offer our sympathies to the family and friends of the deceased.
New Hampshire 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Summary Report
(data updated March 29, 2020, 9:00 AM)
|
NH Persons with COVID-191 |
258 |
|
Deaths Attributed to COVID-19 |
3 (1%) |
|
Hospitalizations |
39 (15%) |
|
Persons Tested Negative at Selected Laboratories2 |
4,994 |
|
Persons with Specimens Submitted to NH PHL |
3,103 |
|
Persons with Test Pending at NH PHL3 |
144 |
|
Persons Being Monitored in NH (approximate point in time) |
1050 |
1Includes specimens presumptive-positive at any laboratory and those confirmed by CDC confirmatory testing.
2Includes specimens tested at the NH Public Health Laboratories (PHL), LabCorp, Quest, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and those sent to CDC prior to NH PHL testing capacity.
3Includes specimens received and awaiting testing at NH PHL. Does not include tests pending at commercial laboratories.
NH DHHS Daily Update on COVID-19 Archive
For more information, please visit the DHHS COVID-19 webpage at https://www.nh.gov/covid19.
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- Written by Patrick R. McElhiney
- Category: Articles
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Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has issued the following update for March 30, 2020, on the new coronavirus, COVID-19.
On Monday, March 30, 2020, DHHS announced 56 new positive test results for COVID-19. There have now been 314 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in New Hampshire. The new cases are 35 adult females and 21 adult males. The new cases reside in Rockingham (16), Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (5), Strafford (5), Grafton (5), Merrimack (4), and Belknap (3) counties, and in the cities of Nashua (12) and Manchester (6).
Four of the new cases were hospitalized for their illness; thus far, 45 patients of the 314 positive cases (14%) have been hospitalized. Thirty-four of the new cases have no identified risk factors. Community-based transmission continues to increase in the State and has been identified in all counties with cases. Most of the remaining cases have either had travel to domestic or international locations or have had close contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis.
DHHS also announced that new data sets are available. Effective immediately, the NH DHHS COVID-19 Updates will include a map of positive cases on a town-by-town level. In addition, new data sets featured on NH.gov/COVID19 website include age and gender breakdowns.
New Hampshire 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Summary Report
(data updated March 30, 2020, 9:00 AM)
|
NH Persons with COVID-191 |
314 |
|
Deaths Attributed to COVID-19 |
3 (1%) |
|
Hospitalizations |
45 (14%) |
|
Persons Tested Negative at Selected Laboratories2 |
5,412 |
|
Persons with Specimens Submitted to NH PHL |
3,171 |
|
Persons with Test Pending at NH PHL3 |
65 |
|
Persons Being Monitored in NH (approximate point in time) |
1,100 |
1Includes specimens presumptive-positive at any laboratory and those confirmed by CDC confirmatory testing.
2Includes specimens tested at the NH Public Health Laboratories (PHL), LabCorp, Quest, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and those sent to CDC prior to NH PHL testing capacity.
3Includes specimens received and awaiting testing at NH PHL. Does not include tests pending at commercial laboratories.
NH DHHS Daily Update on COVID-19 Archive
For more information, please visit the DHHS COVID-19 webpage at https://www.nh.gov/covid19.
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- Written by Matt Towne
- Category: Articles
To the citizens of Barrington,
I am writing this OpEd piece to inform you of a situation that has occurred with our local Select Board. However, before I get into that, a brief review is necessary.
Prior to the deliberative session in February, three LOCAL groups, each on its own and on their own initiative, proposed three different warrant articles. The subjects of these warrant articles are irrelevant. The process involved getting at least 25 signatures to be placed on the March 10 town meeting ballot as “petitioned warrant articles”. They were then presented to the town at the deliberative session and attendees were invited to comment. This right to comment is also extended to the Select People.
This is one of the purest forms of democracy available to us as citizens. It is a group of people who believe strongly in something and petition their fellow citizens for their support. It rises or falls on its own merit as determined by the voters of the town – in this case, Barrington.
As it turned out, the articles did appear on the town meeting ballots and all three received a clear majority of votes. That is the history of what I am about to discuss and why I am deeply concerned about the actions of our Select Board at the March 23, 2020, Select Board meeting.
All three articles contained language that directed the Select Board to take specific actions in the event that they were approved by the voters. Now the rub. At the meeting, in a 3-1-1 vote, the board voted to NOT comply with the warrant articles and NOT send them to the parties noted in the article. They instead dished it off to the petitioners with caveats. This is NOT what the warrant articles required. It is important that this mechanism has long been established as a way to communicate with our state representatives both in Concord and Washington as well as our Governor. It is giving power to your voice.
It is my view, as well as others involved, that the Board does NOT have this prerogative as the articles clearly stated that the Select Persons SHALL do the actions noted.
There are other factors such as a noncommunicative Town Administrator that did not answer multiple emails from multiple people about the status of these articles and thus the proponents were not available to speak to this issue at the meeting. This vote was done in the last few minutes of the meeting with little or no discussion. The LONE vote to comply with the articles was from Tracy Hardekopf. Dan Ayers, as has been his past practice, abstained from any vote on the matter. Andy Knapp, George Bailey and John Saccoccia all voted to ignore the wishes of the voters.
My alert to the townspeople is that this is what degrading our democracy looks like one bit at a time. Evidently, for reasons of their own, they did not like the articles and refused to comply with a clear majority of citizens that they, in theory, report to. This is an extremely slippery slope and I ask that you consider the ramifications. If a subject that you are passionate about comes up, you follow the rules and obtain a successful outcome would you want to have it thwarted by 4 select persons because “they don’t want to”.
If you have any questions, please let me know. As always, I answer all my email and most phone calls. My email is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Please go to the Select Board website and register your concern. We are now, due to our notice of contest, on the April 13th agenda.
With Respect,
Matt Towne RN, CSP
Representative, Strafford County, District 4
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